Whether this actually takes place is not the topic of this discussion, however. It is only important here in the sense that if it is taking place, it would fall into the discussion of whether it is right to use the power that these individuals have and keep that power instead of telling the truth, even if the truth may diminish the power that they previously enjoyed.
The most important Arthur Miller quote for this discussion, however, would be "...the strongest man in the world is the man who stands most alone." This quote is very important when looking at whether truth or power is more important, because it indicates that the man who tells the truth is the one that is often shunned and ignored, while the powerful people continue to use (and abuse) that power in order to stay ahead of others. It is unfortunate that individuals feel the need to do this, but it takes place every day in many different ways, but particularly in the political arena, which is where it also takes place in Miller's work. Answering the question of which is more important, however, is still very difficult, as there will be people that will have conflicting opinions as to the issue.
In the opinion of this writer, however, truth is more important than power. Almost anyone can attain power over others - some on a grand scale and some on a smaller scale, but it takes someone very special to tell the complete and honest truth, all of the time, regardless of the...
In other words, many people that choose to tell the truth find that this truth is painful to them or to someone else, and sometimes it can affect a large number of people. However, these people that do elect to tell the truth have a clear conscience, whether they are religious (God wants us to tell the truth) or not (it is just the right thing to do). This generally has to do with the person's upbringing, but can also simply be a personal choice that it is morally right and good to tell the truth, always.
Power is certainly important to many people, as it often goes with wealth, control, and many other things that people seem to greatly enjoy. However, just as money does not buy happiness, power does not buy it either, nor does it buy true friendship, moral superiority, or truthfulness and honesty. There are those that do not care whether they are truthful and do not see it as being important, but most people want to be told the truth, even if they do not want to tell the truth, and they do not enjoy being lied to. They may lie to others, however, and feel that this is acceptable, because they are powerful and the rules do not apply to them. Eventually, however, most of them are caught in these lies, and what happens then is often unpleasant for many innocent people as well. The world would be a better place, I believe, if more people were concerned with being truthful and less concerned with how much power they have.
